Pages for Current Surah - Verse/s :-

- Verses 1 - 40: Translation and Commentary

- Interpretation of Lawwamah
- Three Kinds of Nafs -
- Divine Wonders in the Resurrection of Bodies
- Muqtadis (Those Praying Behind an Imam) Should Not Recite the Qur'an in Salah

Three Kinds of Nafs

The foregoing interpretation of An-nafs-ul-lawwamah embraces An-nafs-ul-mutma'innah. The two terms are titles of a God-fearing person.

In Sufi terminology, we come across the following concepts. The noble Sufis say that man in his nature goes through three stages of human development. The first stage is called] An-nafs-ul-ammarah 'the self that tempts (to evil)' as said by the Holy Qur'an:

'...Surely, man's inner self often incites to evil...[12:53]'

The second stage of development is called An-nafs-ul-lawwamah 'the self that blames' - translated above as 'the self-reproaching conscience'.

The first stage is developed into the second stage when the traveler perform righteousness, and exerts himself in riyadah 'ascetic discipline' and mujahadah 'spiritual struggle'. This Self is conscious of its own imperfections. It regrets its evils and shortcomings, but it is not completely cut off from the evils. The third and highest stage of development is called An-nafs-ul-mutma'innah 'the self at peace'. This self develops into this stage when it progressively performs righteousness and attains Divine nearness and applies the sacred laws of Shari'ah so rigorously that Shari'ah becomes his nature and develops a natural hatred for anything contrary to Shari'ah . The title of the self at this stage is mutma'innah.

Then an oft-repeated objection of the disbelievers is mentioned, that is, when they are dead and reduced to bones and dust, how will they be raised again to life. The following verse rebuts this objection, thus:

(Yes! We are able to reset [even] his fingertips perfectly...75:4). Man is amazed and surprised and thinks that Allah is unable to gather his tiny particles that have been scattered and reassemble his decomposed bones and give him a new life. The verse effectively rebuts this objection by saying that this has happened once before. Every man who grows and develops in the world, his body is composed of particles and elements gathered from different parts of the world. Allah has infinite power to do anything. He will gather the disintegrated bones and the scattered particles of man from different parts of the world and give them life again, as he did the first time. It is not impossible for Him to breathe soul into his structure the second time, as it was not impossible the first time. Why should it be surprising?